What it means
پکر (pekar) describes a person who has gone quiet and inward, visibly deflated but not dramatically distressed. The closest English translation is “in a funk” or “down in the dumps,” though پکر is milder than full sadness (غمگین, ghamgin) and more specific: it is the flat, sulky, low-energy state you see on someone’s face when something has taken the spark out of them. The word’s origin is uncertain; it is found across colloquial Persian dialects and neither Dehkhoda nor Vajehyab records an etymology. A contrasting pair worth knowing is شنگول (shangul), a colloquial word for bubbly and lively, which sits at the opposite end of the mood dial from پکر.
How to use it
- چرا پکری؟ اتفاقی افتاده؟ (cherâ pekari? ettefâghi oftâde?) “Why are you so glum? Did something happen?”
- از صبح پکر نشسته و با کسی حرف نمیزنه. (az sobh pekar neshaste o bâ kasi harf nemi-zane.) “He’s been sitting there in a funk since morning, not talking to anyone.”
- یه جوری پکر بود که دلم سوخت. (ye juri pekar bud ke delam sukht.) “She looked so down that it broke my heart.”
- بعد از بازی پکر برگشتن خونه. (ba’d az bâzi pekar bargashtan khune.) “After the match they came home deflated.”
Cultural note
پکر belongs to a cluster of colloquial Persian emotional adjectives that describe subtle mood states with great economy. Where English might need a phrase, Persian speakers often have a single word. پکر is notable because it is fully accepted in standard spoken Tehran Persian despite its informal register, and it appears in published fiction and film dialogue without any sense of impropriety. Asking someone چرا پکری؟ is a normal, caring question between friends and family.